Coming Attractions

Can you imagine my excitement??

I was extremely excited to come home to this stack of packages waiting for me by the door.
Thanks to the lovely people at Penguin and Random House, I have some books that will be reviewed soon! 

 The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer

WARNING !! SPOILER ALERT!! for Vlad Tod

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS.

Part vampire, Vlad, is running out of time. The Elysian Council has given him only weeks to live, and that's if the Slayer Society doesn't kill him - along with all the citizens of Bathory - first.  Then there's the issue of Vlad's father, who may or may not still be alive after all these years. And can Vlad recognise Snow as more than just a snack? Oh yeah, and that tiny little detail in the Pravus prophecy about Vlad enslaving Vampirekind and the human race.  So much for college applications.

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

They were taken from their beds one frozen night, when the world was covered in snow. The silhouette of a tall, thin man has haunted Kate ever since.

Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded to a blur. Arriving at Cambridge Falls, where the rolling fog distorts their sense of time and the town is eerily silent, the children quickly realise there is something different about this place – and Kate feels sure she has seen the dark, crooked house before.

Exploring the house, they discover an old, empty leather book. The moment they touch it, an ancient magical prophecy is set irrevocably in motion, and the children are thrown into a dangerous alternate reality of dark enchantments, terrifying monsters, noble dwarves and entire cities buried beneath the earth. Only they can prevent the terrible event that will ruin Cambridge Falls – and stop the world from falling into complete devastation.

 The Valley of Blood and Gold by Tony Palmer


'I'm a daughter of my homeland.  We're Irish. It's all we need to know.'
'This isn't Ireland, Niamh.' Kilkenny Pat cut through her words. 'It's a new country.
Even the English aren't English here.'

It is 1854 and Ballarat is teeming with miners, dreamers and rebels. On the eve of the Eureka Stockade battle, Fintan Donovan is fighting private battles of his own. Torn between his Irish upbringing and his friendship with an English boy called Matthew Ward, Fintan must make a stand. Will he be dominated by the hatreds of the old world or will he find a new way to live in the new country?

Moonshadow by Simon Higgins

Attacked by the powerful Fuma clan, young Moonshadow and the agents of the Grey Light Order fight for their lives. In the heat of battle, one of their number disappears. Was the Grey Light Order agent abducted by the Fuma or did they leave willingly? Was there a double agent in their midst? Moonshadow and Groundspider are ordered to the Fuma's mountain fortress, said to be impregnable. Their mission: discover the truth, then act accordingly. Will their dangerous quest end in a rescue? Or will Moonshadow be forced to destroy a trusted friend?

The Road to Belgrandia  by Michael Stephens

Marcia says there are wondrous things in Belgrandia - houses like palaces and enormous chandeliers and flying cats and music like nothing you've ever heard. But is it a real place or is she just a bit crazy? Her best friend Lewis isn't sure, but over four extraordinary days in their quiet seaside town, the evidence begins to build. And on that last breathtaking night, their belief in Belgrandia becomes one of life or death.

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

Natalie is utterly determined to cement her position at the top of the high school social ladder by becoming prom queen. When it looks like an interfering ex-boyfriend might get in her way, she devises a little prank to humiliate him. But when the prank goes devastatingly wrong, Natalie starts to lose control of her life. Caught in a web of dark secrets, shame and abuse of power, it's not guilt that eventually defeats Natalie. It's fate: the only thing she can't control . . .

Haunted by Barbara Haworth-
Dee is feeding the chickens the morning that bones are discovered on the mountain. Something doesn’t feel right - and her feeling is confirmed when local police show her a ring that they found with the bones, a ring belonging to Mary Ann Simpson, who disappeared four years earlier. Other girls, Dee learns, have gone missing from this small town nestled in the shadow of the Bruce Peninsula’s rugged escarpment, the ‘mountain’ that Dee loves.

Like her grandmother, Dee has ‘the Sight’, an ability not only to see spirits from the afterlife but also to experience their earlier deaths - an experience that becomes more horrifying as events take darker turns. While trying to help with the investigation, Dee is drawn into a deepening mystery that soon strikes terrifyingly close to home.

Thyla by Kate Gordon


My name is Tessa. I am strong. I am brave. I do not cry. These are the only things I know for certain.

I was found in the bush, ragged as a wild thing. I have no memory - not even of how I got the long, striping slashes across my back. They make me frightened of what I might remember.

The policewoman, Connolly, found me a place in a boarding school and told me about her daughter, Cat, who went missing in the bush.

I think there is a connection between Cat, me, and the strange things going on at this school. If I can learn Cat's story, I might discover my own - and stop it happening again.